What a difference a year can make. Toward the end of 2011, the real estate market, and all of the industries that depended upon it, were struggling as perhaps never before in history, and it seemed like the housing slump would continue forever. Housing prices had dropped again in 2011, though not by much, and nothing compared to the double digit losses experienced earlier in the recession.

By some measures, housing prices finally hit a low in February of 2012, and then began to show some life, initiating quarterly rises that continue today. It was the end of a 5-year slide that began back in early 2007. Most recently, the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index rose by 1.1 percent from the 2nd quarter to the 3rd quarter of 2012. Over the latest four quarters, the index is up 3.3 percent.

The earlier flood in housing inventory is now just a memory, with supply beginning to tread historic lows, down most recently by 17% year-over-year in October 2012. Delinquency rates have also dropped year-over-year and existing home sales are rising. Housing production is also up, though fed more by multi-unit properties, with builder confidence hitting a post crisis high.

This is all exceptional news for real estate based companies such as growing online mortgage loan broker Loans4Less.com. Although the real estate industry is a lot thinner than it used to be, those companies that are around now face a wealth of pent up demand, moderated only by the stricter mortgage policies now in place. And these policies are not as much of a challenge to Loans4Less, which focuses on “A” paper loans. Moreover, the fire is being further stoked by historically low mortgage interest rates.